Lives Lived Together
by it makes sense in context
Summary: Just a little story about Ren and Nora.


They were three when they first met. Their mums sent them to the same day-care while they were off 'saving the world' as Nora innocently put it. She was a small, jumping ball of insane energy, leading the charge in the playground mock battles against imaginary versions of creatures they would one day fight for real. Ren was small too, and quiet. He didn't socialise with the other kids much, he preferred to sit on the edge of the playground with a little book. Until Nora dragged him into her games. The other kids called him weird. Nora called him her best friend.

When they were five they started primary school. He was excited, she wasn't. On the first day he greeted the teacher enthusiastically and she hid behind his sleeve. Schools were where they tested how smart you were right? And Nora didn't think she was very smart. But Ren was. And that was Okay, because he would help her, and he would teach her that there were things more important than how well you could spell, things like loyalty and enthusiasm. And the way she held her friends close and never let them go. And these were the lessons that would stick with her for her whole life. Not things like how you spell nec nese neccesary necessary. Although one day she would scream "It is necessary to remember that Professor Port has one collar and two sleeves!" in the middle of study hall because she had _finally_ figured out how to spell that stupid word. But that wasn't the point. The point was that Ren had taught her the things she needed to learn most.

At age ten they started formal training to become Hunters of Grimm, and for the first time Nora was the one who excelled. She was top of the class in fighting for seven years in a row, she trained all day at school and then studied with Ren all evening, until she saw his grades, and then it was her turn to teach him. Teach him that his mind was his greatest weapon, that good fighting was nothing without a strategy to back it up. And of course she made him hone the basics ("You're not flashy, I'm flashy. You have the brilliant mind. You only need to fight well enough not to die, I'll do the rest."), and taught him that it was okay to rely on her, she relied on him for everything else, didn't she?

When they were fourteen they began to build their weapons. The pair spent hours in the dim shed at the bottom of his garden. Ren's grandfather helped, he was known for his weapons. Ren of course knew exactly what he wanted, a gun with a blade and easy storage. Nora was more difficult, she bounced up and down on the spot talking a mile a minute waving her hands and saying things like 'goes Ka-bloom' 'looks badass' and eventually 'but not too bulky', and Ren's grandfather had just looked at the pair until Ren said "Yeye, this is what she wants . . ." Before going on to perfectly describe what would become Magnhild. When they finished they both had beautifully crafted weapons and a fresh repertoire of cuss words in Yeye's mother tongue.

They were accepted into Beacon Academy at age seventeen and that is a story well known to staff. Cheshire cat grins and accidentally starting food fights. One being told 'you need to study' and the other 'would you please relax'. But there were also tales of fierce loyalty and near perfect strategies. Of two kids who never gave up and always pulled though for their friends. And then there was the time professor Goodwitch's hair was dyed pink, which would be passed around as urban legend although the staff all knew it was true but not who the culprits were.

_You are formally invited to the wedding of Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren._ They were the first to get married and when Nora threw the bouquet it wasn't so much 'who caught it' as it was a treasure hunt in Forever Fall with Yang winning and Neptune looking a little scared, which everyone took as confirmation the pair were dating. Phyrra was Maid of Honour, and Jaune was Best Man, and of course Zwei ended up as Ring Bearer. Weiss came alone, though she still danced with Ruby. Blake and Sun were never more than a few meters apart and rumours began to fly as to who was really going to be married next. Guests partied long into the night, while the newlyweds absconded halfway through the evening.

Their first child came when they were twenty-five, and they named her Lily, for the flowers growing at the hotel they celebrated their honeymoon. Parenthood suited the pair. Ren had another excuse to make pancakes, and Nora still ate all the syrup. By the time they were thirty-five they had three children: Lily, Nyx, and Kahurangi. Each had a mix of their parents best traits, though Kahurangi was the only one to inherit his father's pink eyes.

They fought Grimm their entire lives, until the day they died together cornered by a Nevermore much like the one they helped slay their second day at Beacon. Except this time there was no help. Team RWBY were in Vacuo. Jaune and Phyrra were blissfully unaware of the tragedy as the fought Ursai on the other side of the forest. Their children were the first to arrive on scene, and Nyx was the one who landed the final blow, killing the Nevermore. When all was said and done, Nora and Ren's bodies were found, hand's still locked together, inseparable even in death.

Jaune gave the eulogy, Phyrra stood beside him, arm firmly locked around his. They both needed the support as Jaune spoke of the friends of a thousand battles, who had time for everyone, who had laughed and smiled constantly. One who was hyperactive and loud, the other reserved and quiet, both in such perfect harmony, balancing each other out. He recounted pranks, adventures, birthdays, their graduation party, the time Ren had to drag Nora out of a candy shop after she attempted to fit her mouth under one of those candy dispensers and pull the leaver at the same time, the time Nora convinced Ren to make pot brownies and managed to get their entire floor at Beacon high, confirmed that yes, it was Nora and Ren who put the dye in Glynda Goodwitch's shampoo. The time Nora taught them a dance from her favourite music video. The time Ren made pancakes for the whole school. The time they snuck into Jaune and Phyrra's house in the middle of the night in order to announce Nora was pregnant. At the burial, Lily's oldest wanted to know why Nannie and Waiye were being put in the ground. It broke everyone's hearts a little more, and everyone agreed that it had rained that day, despite the blazing sunshine.

Lily was the one who wrote the epitaph on her parent's grave. She could have chosen anything. Beloved parents and grandparents. Proud huntsman and huntress. A quote from a book her parents loved. We miss you. Instead she chose the only thing she felt fitted her parents and their lives. Boop.

**Okay couple of notes on words used Yeye is pinyin for 爷爷 meaning paternal grandfather， Waiye is pinyin for 外爷 meaning maternal grandfather. Kahurangi is a Maori word meaning either 'blue' (it refers to the Maori Sky Father, Rangi) or a type of pale green greenstone/jade/ponamu. **

**Oh and in the bit where she is trying to spell necessary there was meant to be a strike through but FFNet doesn't let me have those.**


End file.
